Sept. 20, 2003

Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. -- The Johns Hopkins football team got second-half rushing touchdowns from sophomore T.J. Lyons (Paramus, NJ/Paramus) and junior Brian Wolcott (Harding, PA/Wyoming Area) and the Blue Jay defense limited Randolph-Macon to 50 yards of total offense after halftime as Hopkins posted a 24-0 victory over the visiting Yellow Jackets at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon. The win improves the Blue Jays' record to 3-0 on the year and extends their winning streak to seven games dating back to last season. The seven-game winning streak is tied for the longest in school history and is the longest active winning streak by a college football team in the state of Maryland. Randolph-Macon slips to 0-3 and has lost five straight overall.

The Blue Jays led just 7-0 at the half before putting the game away with 17 points in a span of just under nine minutes midway through the second half. Lyons capped a quick five-play, 48-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown run with 1:57 remaining in the third quarter to push the lead to 14-0. The drive was set up by an interception by Johns Hopkins safety Matt Campbell (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough).

Wolcott's 26-yard touchdown run with 11:26 remaining in the fourth quarter put the game away and capped a six-play, 55-yard drive that was set up by an interception by senior Joe Deluzio (Jeannette, PA/Jeannette). Wolcott took a pitch on an end-around from sophomore quarterback Zach DiIonno (West Caldwell, NJ/James Caldwell) and eluded several Randolph-Macon defenders inside the five-yard line before slipping into the corner of the end zone. A 27-yard field goal by freshman Ben Scott (Pittsburgh, PA/Shady Side Academy) closed the scoring with 8:15 remaining and provided the final margin in Hopkins' first shutout since a 41-0 victory over Franklin & Marshall on November 3, 2001.

Randolph-Macon had a pair of scoring opportunities early in the game, but a 16-play, 56-yard drive to the Johns Hopkins 13-yard line ended with a missed field goal. The 'Jackets also had first-quarter drives end at the Blue Jay 40 and 35 yard lines with punts. Randolph-Macon did not cross midfield after the second quarter and only one of its final 12 possessions netted more than nine yards.

Campbell and senior linebacker Peter Botsolas (Nutley, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) led the Johns Hopkins defense, which allowed a total of just 11 first downs and 153 yards of total offense. Both registered eight tackles and had an interception on the day. Deluzio and senior linebacker Paul Longo (Kensington, MD/Bethesda-Chevy Chase) came up with Hopkins' two other interceptions. Randolph-Macon's 153 yards of total offense is the lowest total by a JHU opponent since Hopkins held F&M to 138 in the 41-0 victory mentioned above. The Blue Jays have also held consecutive opponents to less than 200 yards of total offense for the first time since 2001, when they held Gettysburg (136) and Ursinus (154) to less than 200 in back-to-back games. The 16 points the Blue Jays have allowed in the first three games are the fewest JHU has allowed over a three-game span since allowing 14 over three games midway through the 1996 season. The 16 points are also the fewest allowed by Johns Hopkins in the first three games of a season since 1960, when the Blue Jays allowed just 12 in three straight season-opening victories.

Offensively, the Blue Jays were led by junior Adam Cook (New Freedom PA/Susquehannock), who rushed for a game-high 87 yards and a one-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter that gave Hopkins a 7-0 lead. Cook led the Blue Jays with 133 all-purpose yards as he also returned five punts for 46 yards. He reached a pair of milestones in the win as he went over 2,000 career all-purpose yards (he now has 2,028) and 1,200 yards rushing (1,267). Lyons added 58 yards and the one touchdown on the ground and Wolcott had six receptions for 48 yards to go along with his 26-yard touchdown run. DiIonno, who filled in for injured starter George Merrell, was 16-of-31 for 132 yards and three interceptions.

Mike Jenkins (Culpeper, VA/Culpeper) was 14-of-35 for 90 yards and threw three of Randolph-Macon's four interceptions on the day. Senior running back E.J. Bush (Newport News, VA/Denbigh) rushed 18 times for 66 yards to lead the way on the ground for the 'Jackets, while Clay Muench (Florence, SC/Byrnes School) had six receptions for 49 yards.

Johns Hopkins will return to action next Saturday at Carnegie Mellon, while Randolph-Macon will play at Catholic next week.

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